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CCC historian will talk at Westport library Saturday

Northwest Washington historian Janet Oakley will be at the Westport Timberland Library on Saturday at 1 p.m. to talk about the history of the Civilian Conservation Corps camps in Washington State.

During the Great Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt created the Civilian Conservation Corps to provide jobs for millions of out-of-work men. In doing so, he also saved an environment damaged by World War I activities and gave the country new trees, beautiful parks and recreational areas.

From 1933 to 1941, thousands of desperate young men from the East Coast came to Washington to work in the woods alongside local boys to build bridges, roads and park buildings. Oakley will discuss the impact they had on our state’s natural resources and on the men who worked to preserve them.

Oakley is a writer and historian based in Northwest Washington. A former educator at the Skagit County Historical Museum, she grew up listening to her mother’s stories about the Civilian Conservation Corps workers who occupied a rugged side camp up the creek from her uncle’s ranch. Oakley writes social studies and history curricula for schools, national parks and museums. She has been published in historical journals and wrote the award-winning novel, “Tree Soldier.”

The presentation is cosponsored by Humanities Washington. The Westport Timberland Library is located at 101 E. Harms Drive. For more information, contact the library at (360) 268-0521 or visit trl.org.